Head teachers threaten legal action over 'flawed' inspector ratings

Head teachers are threatening legal action over school inspection judgements
they consider to be “flawed”.

Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, could be taken to court if the ratings given to schools are not based on sound evidence, said Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

His comments, at the union’s annual conference, put school leaders at loggerheads with Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools. The conference will on Sunday debate a motion accusing Ofsted of creating a “culture of fear” in schools.

The hostile move follows growing anger among head teachers about a new school inspection framework.

Mr Hobby said: “We have to explore the idea but it could be that legal action, such as judicial reviews, where individual judgements are flawed might be the best way forward.”

He pointed to the case of one school, Furness Academy in Barrow in Furness, which recently pursued a judicial review of its inspection process. The school failed to halt the publication of a report labelling it as “inadequate”, but in the High Court Mr Justice Collins agreed with the school that key judgements were “untrue and unfair”, and told Ofsted to issue a clarifying letter.

Sir Michael, the former head of Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, who took up the Ofsted post in January, has suggested that 5,000 head teachers are not up to the job.

Schools have been told that they can no longer be classed by inspectors as “satisfactory”. Instead they will be ordered to improve, and if sufficient progress is not made within a year they will be deemed to be failing and forced to become academies.

But head teachers claim that schools are being blighted by inspectors who are long retired from teaching or lack relevant experience.

The threat to Ofsted’s authority comes despite earlier attempts by Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, to mollify head teachers with a climbdown on plans to introduce “no-notice” inspections.

He said teachers and heads had a right to know of an impending visit so they could present the school in the best light.

Snap inspections were supposed to come in to force in September. Currently schools get 48 hours warning.

Mr Gove also acknowledged that the quality of inspectors needed to be improved and said plans would be put in place to encourage serving head teachers to take on a dual inspection role.

He also said that the £60,000 salary of full-time inspectors would be reviewed to encourage more highly-experienced teachers to join Ofsted.